MOSCOW, Idaho - The Idaho men's tennis team will feature a nationally-ranked combination to open the spring season, as the doubles team of Alex Joitoiu and Lachlan Reed debuted at 58th in the first Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings of 2010.

Joitoiu and Reed paired for just one doubles competition during the fall season, but the result was enough to catch the attention of the ITA. The pair went 5-0 and won the GU/EWU Men's Tennis Fall Tournament in convincing fashion.

"Alex and Lachlan only played one event together this fall but they won it and defeated some strong teams in that event," Idaho director of tennis Jeff Beaman said. "They are one of the combinations that I am looking at going into our spring season."

Among the ITA Mountain Region, Idaho was also represented well. Reed checked in a 18th in the men's singles rankings, while the doubles combo of Reed and Adrian Simon ranked fourth and the doubles combo of Joitoiu and Stanislav Glukhov ranked eighth.

Beaman said that the experience and the talent the team has in the doubles area can go a long way this season and that he expects Idaho tandems to make a regional and national impact. Simon and Armen Kuznetsov earned national doubles rankings at their previous schools, while Glukhov earned a doubles ranking on the pro tour before coming to Idaho.

"With Artem Kuznetsov coming back for the spring we have many possible doubles pairings that all can be very successful at a national level," Beaman said. "These players, in addition to the other guys on our team will make our doubles line-up stronger than it has ever been in my time at Idaho.

"In addition to our strength in doubles, we also go very deep with our singles strength and should be able to compete in the very tough Western Athletic Conference, which had five programs spend time in the national rankings this year."

The Idaho men will open their spring season this weekend at Fresno, Calif., when they face Western Athletic Conference foes Fresno State on Saturday and Nevada on Sunday.